1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a thin film pattern, a method for manufacturing a device, an electro-optical apparatus, and an electronic apparatus.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-155861, filed May 30, 2003, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-94527, filed Mar. 29, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
A photolithography process is used in manufacturing a device with lines (wiring) such as electronic circuits and integrated circuits. In this photolithography process, line patterns of thin films are formed by applying a photosensitive material, a so-called resist, on a conductive film preliminarily applied on a substrate, irradiating the resist in a circuit pattern and developing, and etching the conductive film in the resist pattern. In this photolithography process, large facilities such as vacuum equipment and complicated processes are necessary, efficiencies in the use of materials are around a few percent, that is, most of the materials is discarded, and production costs are high.
In contrast, a method in which patterns of lines are formed on a substrate using a liquid droplet ejecting process (method) in which liquid droplets of a liquid material are ejected from a liquid droplet ejecting head, or a so-called ink-jet process, is proposed (refer to, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,248). In this method, an ink for forming line patterns, in which conductive fine particles such as metal fine particles are dispersed and which is a function liquid, is directly applied to the substrate in a pattern, and the ink is transformed into a conductive thin film pattern using a subsequent heat (thermal) treatment or a subsequent laser irradiation. This method has advantages in that a photolithography process is unnecessary, processes are relatively simple, and less raw material is needed.
In the case of forming a thick film pattern using a liquid droplet ejecting process, a method in which a larger-size droplet is ejected can be conceived, but this method has disadvantages such as generation of puddles (bulges) of liquid.
The present invention was conceived in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for fabricating a thin film pattern with a desired thickness in fabricating a thin film pattern such as lines on a substrate using a liquid droplet ejecting process, a method for manufacturing a device, an electro-optical apparatus, and an electronic apparatus.